Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa announced late Tuesday that she’d vote in favor of President-elect Donald Trump’s utterly unqualified pick for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth—a move that suggests the former Fox News host has a high chance of being confirmed.
During an appearance on an Iowa radio show on Tuesday, Ernst said she believed that Hegseth adequately answered all her questions during his hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“He pointed out the woke issues at the Pentagon, and I think we’re at a point where now we can start moving forward. People know where he stands on these issues,” Ernst said. “I will be supporting President Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth.”
Ernst’s support is a huge boon for Hegseth’s odds, practically ensuring he’ll lead the Pentagon in Trump’s incoming administration. Assuming all Democrats oppose his nomination, Hegseth can afford to lose just three Republican senators. And while some in the GOP, including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, still haven’t said how they’ll vote, Tuesday’s confirmation hearing demonstrated that many are on board with Hegseth and are willing to give his abhorrent alleged behavior a pass.
Part of what makes Ernst’s raving endorsement notable is her history as a combat veteran and sexual assault survivor who previously raised concerns over Hegseth’s ability to lead the Pentagon. In December, she cited concerns over Hegseth’s past opposition to women serving in combat roles, though he walked this back during Tuesday’s hearing.
It was also unclear how Ernst, who has crusaded for years to address sexual misconduct in the military, would respond to allegations that Hegseth raped a woman in 2017. (Hegseth maintains that the encounter was consensual.)
Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s nominee to be defense secretary
Perhaps Ernst can stomach Hegseth’s nomination because she intentionally distanced herself from some of the worst charges against him. According to new reporting from The New Yorker, Ernst declined an invitation to meet with the woman whom Hegseth paid to settle that 2017 sexual assault claim.
Or maybe Ernst simply bowed to outsized pressure from the GOP base. After meeting with Hegseth in December and voicing doubts about whether she’d vote in his favor, she was relentlessly bullied by hardcore MAGA adherents. Not only did some of Trump’s most ardent supporters run ads in Ernst’s home state of Iowa, but they also questioned her conservative bona fides on social media. Mega-billionaire Elon Musk also pledged to bankroll primary challenges to Republicans who went against the president-elect.
It appears that threats to primary Ernst worked. Following another December meeting with Hegseth, Ernst signaled more openness to his nomination.
This pressure very likely helped change Ernst’s tone on Hegseth. Notably, on Tuesday, as Democrats slammed the defense nominee over his alleged drinking problem and past comments toward women, Ernst tossed him softballs.
“As secretary of defense, will you appoint a senior-level official dedicated to sexual assault prevention and response?” she asked.
“Senator, as we have discussed, yes I will,” Hegseth responded.
Ernst is up for reelection in 2026 in a state that went for Trump by more than 13 percentage points in November. Given that, it’s likely she would’ve been targeted by MAGA followers had she not kowtowed to the president-elect and refused to back Hegseth. That type of politicking might work for the likes of Collins or even Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican who is also on the fence about confirming Hegseth, but not the bulk of Senate Republicans who need Trump’s base of loyal Republicans to retain their positions in Congress.
Ernst’s onetime arms-length attitude toward Hegseth signaled that some Senate Republicans would attempt to maintain independence under a second Trump administration, but the Iowan’s changed tune suggests that for Republican lawmakers, Trump is still king.
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